Microsoft makes changes to geolocation service

Microsoft has recently made changes to its geographic location service, which we reported on not so long ago as having a lack of safeguards and a privacy flaw. Elie Bursztein, a researcher at Stanford University, created a web page that allowed visitors to search the database at Live.com for locations using device MAC addresses.

Reid Kuhn, a Partner Group Program Manager on the Windows Phone engineering team, made the announcement today over at Technet and stated that while it was not possible to track a roaming mobile phone or laptop using its MAC address, they aware of the fine line Microsoft was treading on with regards to privacy issues surrounding geolocation.

"Microsoft's privacy and security team has been in contact with Elie and we will continue the ongoing dialog with experts in the privacy field to improve our service offerings. We thank Elie and his team for working with us on this issue."

Microsoft's privacy and security team has been in contact with Elie and we will continue the ongoing dialog with experts in the privacy field to improve our service offerings. We thank Elie and his team for working with us on this issue.